Two things I love combined OK GO and the Muppets! My wife and I really wanted to take the boys to see the new film at the cinema but that is not going to happen. Last summer my we were in Lancaster in the north of the UK and were going to go and see Cars to at the local Vue Cinema. What we weren’t of at the time is that the Lancaster Vue is well known for being the loudest cinema on the planet! As soon as the first trailer came on which was for Tintin the kids exploded in uncontrollable tears and demanded to leave immediately. Since then the won’t go anywhere near the cinema which means we won’t get to see the Muppets until it is released on DVD.

Adam Sandler and his film ‘Jack and Jill’ made Razzie history yesterday by winning all 10 categories of the Razzies. The Razzies are the opposite of the Oscars and celebrate the worst films of the year or in this years case film of the year. Adam Sandler plays two roles in the film playing himself and his sister for which he won worst actor and actress. This is one hell of an achievement when you consider what a terrible year it has been for films. I have said this before but I think it was the weakest Oscars line up in years. The old adage ‘All publicity is good publicity’ will come into play and I can imagine people will want to watch the film now to see just how bad it is. Does anyone have a film they consider worse or awards they would have given to other actors/actresses?

“Y’know you should read the book before you see the film, it’s far superior”

“The book is so much better than the movie”

“They left so much out of the film that it was nowhere near as good as the book”

… I’m sure you’ve probably heard one of these statements before, you’ve probably even said it at one point. And that’s ok, sometimes it’s true, the book can be better than the movie.

“Problem solved then I guess?”

“That was a short article”

“I suppose we can close the book on this one then!”

Well, not quite. I was sitting down to watch the recent film version of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ a few nights ago, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t read the book. Despite it being a fixture in middle-class book clubs, with middle-class, middle-aged parents recommending it to their emotionally precocious teenage daughters and it topping the bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, it had somehow passed me by. Suddenly I couldn’t do it, I had to stop the film and order the book on my Kindle before I could allow this situation to endure. But why?

Rian Johnson is an odd director. Odd in that, despite lashings of critical praise for the two films he’s made so far, he’s still largely unknown. Out of those people who do know him, most were first made aware of him by his film ‘Brick’.

‘Brick’ had an audacious concept: a film-noir set in a contemporary high school. An engrossing and labyrinthine plot defines the film, and this is enlivened by an (initially impenetrable) youth slang devised by Johnson, who wrote the film itself. Joseph Gordon-Levitt acquits himself well as the protagonist; effectively tying all the strands of the taut plot together against a backdrop of youthful apathy and atmospheric music.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is SO much more than just that kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun

Rian Johnson followed that up by releasing the less well-known ‘The Brothers Bloom’: an interesting conman movie that had, in Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody a strong and chemistry-laden rapport between its stars, if you then throw a memorable part for Robbie Coltraine and an energetic and imaginative turn from Rachel Weisz into the mix, you end up with the recipe for a lightweight, romping con movie with a jaunty yet surprisingly emotive feel. A good time to be had at the movies, yessiree.

In Bloom: The Stars of the Brothers Bloom

Both of Johnson’s films so far were written by him, and both demonstrate a strong vein of originality and a willingness to try new things. Listen to the guy speak or just watch any of his films, and it’s clear he loves movies. His films are full of knowing winks and nods.

And so, with that, we come to his latest, ‘Looper’. ‘Looper’ is a time-travel movie where said time-travel exists, but is, in fact, illegal in the future. Mobsters use it to send assassination targets back to be eliminated by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, Joe. All seems hunk-dory until Joe is asked to kill what appears to be his future self… And that’s about all that’s known of the plot. I’m willing to bet that, at the very least, his job-satisfaction goes right down though, and it’s hard to see how his next appraisal meeting is going to go well (or at all).

Hollywood doesn’t often allow original properties by interesting directors to get made, so it’s a good opportunity to send out a message that you want to see more of this. Check out the trailer below, and prepare to be excited:

See this film before it’s too late, and all we have are films like the forthcoming ‘Battleship’ *shudder*…. That’s a dystopian future I don’t want to see.

The have really gone to town with the viral videos for Prometheus, I think it hints at the detail they have put into the final film and how much people love the Alien franchise. This video leaks the fact that Michael Fassbender’s character is a cyborg or ‘skin job’ as the colonial Marines refer to them. If this viral is anything to go by the this is shaping up to be the biggest release of the year.